Originally Posted by
ahultin
So I got the RT2 out for a quick 20 minute ride this evening. Road it for about 5 minutes solo then about 15 minutes with my 12 yr old. Our intention was to get a good 20 mile maiden voyage in but we lost light to early. In this short ride I made many observations.
1. Steering is substantially different then my single and felt slower
2. Reading the "proper method" is very helpful
2. New brakes suck! Okay to be fair, when I got back in the house I found that the bb7's where very poorly adjusted. I read the park guide for adjusting them and think I got them pretty close. Will have to try them tomorrow
3. Contrary to my expectation climbing seemed easier with the extra helper on the back.
Some bike issues I noticed
The stoker bars hit my thighs when pedaling
which I figured no problem I would adjust the stoker stem, um wtf, why do they spec an adjustable stem with all of 1/2 in of adjustment?? Control tech 255mm adj on order. Flipped the bar for now
Although I transferred my singles measurements I felt for lack of a better description, too close to the front wheel. On my single when I look down the fork the bar obscures the center of the hub. On the tandem when I do the same the bar seems ahead of the center line of the hub. I would like to move the seat back some but the location of the eccentric is @3pm when looking from drive side. If I move the seat back more I will be further behind the BB. Should I/Could I spin the eccentric around to @9pm and pull a link?
The cables up front seem to have excess length (as compared to the single) is there a purpose for this or can I shorten/clean up
Thats it for now
Thank you for any advise
1. If you setup your captain saddle position over the BB correctly (or otherwise mirrored a known position from another bike ie: single), then you should not move the saddle back just because of a reach issue. Also, you are a tall guy on a small frame. Best to leave the eccentric in the forward position so you do not needlessly encroach on the stoker area.
Instead, your eccentric appears to be in 2pm position so rotate it to 4pm and lower your saddle position accordingly (has added benefit of lowering your COG and improve stability). Then, flip your stem so its angle is down instead of rising as it appears to be in the photo... this will have the effect of lengthening your reach maybe .5cm and you may not feel the need to move your saddle back. If you still need more reach, try a longer stem. Add/remove stem spacers to achieve your proper bar-to-saddle drop differential... and by the way, on a tandem it is typical to use slightly less (I'm talking about <= 5mm) of a drop than on a single.
2. Do not move the stoker bars to satsify your (captain) setup needs. Setup the stoker area to properly accommodate the stoker's preference and/or needs. Obviously if the stoker bars rub the captain's butt/thighs/etc, then something should be done... like using wider bars for example. Using wider stoker bars on a tandem is a typical adjustment and 4-6cm wider than a single bar setup is not uncommon.